Committee on Assessment and Teacher Quality

Concern over the quality of the teaching force has risen rapidly up the education policy and reform agenda. In the light of projected increases in the demand for new teachers, due to attrition in the current workforce and expected growth in school enrollments, an issue of particular concern is how to assure that newcomers to the teaching profession have the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities.

Measuring teacher quality, and using the measures to license and certify teachers, raise numerous technical, educational, and legal questions. The National Research Council (NRC) proposes to establish a study committee to examine existing and alternative measures of teacher preparedness, consider their role in licensing new teachers, and explore options for improving the existing uses of tests and developing viable and promising alternatives.

The committee will rely principally on evidence from research on teacher quality, scientific studies of educational testing and measurement, and the experiences of practitioners in teaching, teacher education, and teacher assessment. In addition, the committee will examine evidence from other fields, such as organizational psychology, law, and occupational licensure, that can inform the development of innovative teacher quality measures. The committee will situate its work in the broader context of school reform and be particularly concerned with the multiple purposes of teacher testing, such as alignment of teacher qualifications with emerging content and performance standards for student achievement and public accountability. Links between teacher education, licensure, and advanced certification systems, as well as the implications of research on cognitive foundations of teaching, learning, and assessment will also be considered.

Operating under the auspices of the NRC’s Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA), the committee will divide its work into two phases. In the first phase of the project, the committee will develop a framework for comparatively assessing the strengths and weaknesses of teacher testing and assessment strategies, with emphasis on new teachers. In its first report, to be released in February 2000, the committee will apply this framework to a synthesis of evidence -- from research and practice -- on tests currently in use, and will begin to outline salient issues posed by various alternatives. The second phase of the study will then emphasize emerging and new methods. The committee’s final report, to be released in November of 2000, will contain overall findings, conclusions and policy recommendations. These reports will be tailored for multiple audiences: federal and state policymakers, teacher education leaders, and, of course, teachers themselves.

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